Patriots notebook: Seymour back in the lineup

The Patriots improved Sunday: Richard Seymour made the transition from spectator to player.

Glen Farley

For seven games, he’d played the part of a New England Patriots’ fan.

“It’s been awesome just to watch them,” Richard Seymour said, speaking of his Patriots teammates. “You have to take your hats off to them. The way they’ve been able to play, it just speaks volumes for the level of consistency that’s here, from all different levels – from ownership to the coaching staff to the players. I think we have a well-oiled machine.”

The Patriots improved Sunday: Seymour made the transition from spectator to player.

“It was good to have him back out there,” Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said after his team’s 52-7 thumping of the Washington Redskins at Gillette Stadium.

Eased back into action, Seymour participated in fewer than half the plays in a game in which the Redskins’ offense was on the field for only 22:11. He failed to make a single tackle.

More important than what might have been seen, or not seen, on the stat sheet was the mere fact that the five-time Pro Bowl defensive lineman was back from the knee injury that had sidelined him for nearly half the regular season.

“It’s definitely been a long road,” Seymour said. “It’s been a journey, something that I haven’t experienced in my career. But I think every year is different. It presents different challenges.

“It was a tough road, to say the least,” Seymour said. “There are a few people I definitely have to thank – my wife being one of them for putting up with me for those seven weeks. The training staff for preparing me to get back out on the football field. Then also for my teammates for (welcoming) me back and the fans for giving me a warm welcome back.”

When asked to assess his performance, Seymour was rather vague.

“It’s kind of hard to tell,” he said. “You have to go back and look at the film. You have to get a level of conditioning. You can do all the running that you want to do, but until you get out on the football field (you can’t gauge your progress). That's why we have some preseason games.

“I’m just looking to build on this next week (when the Patriots will be at Indianapolis),” Seymour said. “There’s still a lot of football left to be played.”

Faulk talk

In need of two catches to move past Gino Cappelletti and into sixth place on the Patriots’ all-time receptions list, Kevin Faulk made quick work of his task, grabbing three passes from Brady on the team’s opening possession, a 14—play, 90-yard drive that resulted in a 3-yard scramble for a touchdown by the quarterback.

The nine-year veteran finished the game with seven catches for 57 yards, pushing his career total to 298 receptions, most ever by a Patriots running back.

“It’s just something about being ready,” said Faulk, who also carried the ball five times for 32 yards in the game. “You never know when you’re going to be called.”

Long time coming

The win was the Patriots’ first in 35 years against the Redskins.

The ’Skins took six straight wins during that time and now hold a 6-2 lead in the series.

Message to Matt?

Interesting development on the pregame inactive list where, one week after Matt Cassel’s fourth-quarter interception and subsequent benching in Miami, the Patriots did not designate rookie Matt Gutierrez as their third quarterback.

When it came time to go to the bullpen, however, Cassel got the first call, entering the game with 8 1/2 minutes to play and promptly driving the team to a touchdown, completing 2 of 3 passes for 28 yards and putting the finishing touches on the drive when he scrambled around right end and in from the 15 with 5:53 to play.

After the Redskins scored their touchdown to avoid the shutout, Gutierrez mopped up, taking the field with 2:56 remaining and, following an exchange of punts, the game-ending kneel down.